Yes. These are brand new phones in retail packaging, just like you would see at the carrier store.
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Discounted $249 iPhone SE Once Again Back in Stock on Apple's Clearance Site
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Thanks for your help. I think I will pick up one. I’ve been eyeing that 128gb space grey and I don’t believe there is too many left. It shows 355 so some left.
Yup. It wasn’t disastrous except for a sudden precipitous decline in China, attributed to macroeconomic conditions but probably also related to the trade war and the Dec 1 arrest of the CFO of Huawei. There were reports of Chinese workers being told not to buy iPhone, and companies threatening to fire them if they did. They were supposedly told to buy Huawei instead. Also reports of fines for buying iPhone and subsidies to workers to buy Huawei.
Anyway, if there were in fact 64 million iPhones sold, the ASP would be much higher than $600—as in $812. (Since Apple still reports iPhone revenue, which was $51.98 billion for last quarter, ASP can be calculated based on any given unit estimate.)
So the $40/mo prepaid Verizon plan for 8GB, plus they throw in 7 more GBs if you keep it up, and which goes to $35/mo if you auto-pay ends up tacking on over $12 in taxes and fees to bring it to $42+ per month. I have an old iPad that I can get on the Net for ~$20/1GB/30days. It has about $3 in taxes and fees ($21.43 total). While $42 is not horrible for 15GB would there be some special reason why the fees are $12 on a $35 plan, instead of about $5-$6? I told Verizon I'd think about it. The guy got kinda mad when I called them "hidden charges".
Yes, they do that! Forgetting that they serve/service(!) us, they actually talk down. Still living in the days of "no choice"!
I think you missed another $5. It is $40-5=$35+$12(fees)= $47.
The mystery of where these iPhone SEs have been until now will probably never be solved completely. The range of build dates and iOS versions is pretty large, which makes a single explanation pretty unlikely. But I’ll try anyway 
Flash back to the new iPhone announcement last fall…I was hoping that Apple would announce an updated SE at the iPhone launch. As soon as I realized that Apple had killed the SE, I began searching for a 128GB SE. I would have been happy to buy one at full price. But I couldn’t find any at Apple, Amazon, Best Buy etc..
Looking back, my guess is that going into the last fall’s iPhone announcement, Apple convinced iPhone retailers that it was “in their best interests” to pull their remaining stock of “low end” SEs and focus on up-selling/upgrading customers to the new “high end” iPhones.
Fast forward to a month or so ago…. Apple tested the market for SEs by selling their own remaining stock at a discount to bargain-hunters / aficionados. When that proved successful, Apple began sweeping up any remaining SEs in the retail chain. Some may have been on pallets in warehouses. But I suspect most were tucked away in the backrooms of numerous local carrier stores, electronics retailers etc. spread out across America. Some had been in retailer backrooms for awhile, others had been built recently.
This scenario would explain why the current crop of discounted SEs are in their original shrink wrap packaging, unlocked, but still have a carrier SIM installed. In any case this is my story and I’m sticking to it
GetRealBro
Note: you can unlock a phone while it is still in the original shrink wrap. But you can’t remove the SIM.
Flash back to the new iPhone announcement last fall…I was hoping that Apple would announce an updated SE at the iPhone launch. As soon as I realized that Apple had killed the SE, I began searching for a 128GB SE. I would have been happy to buy one at full price. But I couldn’t find any at Apple, Amazon, Best Buy etc..
Looking back, my guess is that going into the last fall’s iPhone announcement, Apple convinced iPhone retailers that it was “in their best interests” to pull their remaining stock of “low end” SEs and focus on up-selling/upgrading customers to the new “high end” iPhones.
Fast forward to a month or so ago…. Apple tested the market for SEs by selling their own remaining stock at a discount to bargain-hunters / aficionados. When that proved successful, Apple began sweeping up any remaining SEs in the retail chain. Some may have been on pallets in warehouses. But I suspect most were tucked away in the backrooms of numerous local carrier stores, electronics retailers etc. spread out across America. Some had been in retailer backrooms for awhile, others had been built recently.
This scenario would explain why the current crop of discounted SEs are in their original shrink wrap packaging, unlocked, but still have a carrier SIM installed. In any case this is my story and I’m sticking to it
GetRealBro
Note: you can unlock a phone while it is still in the original shrink wrap. But you can’t remove the SIM.
Oops, yup. It was $46+. He wanted $92.something just before getting my credit card info. Crazy. ...It's actually not that bad for 15GBs, but it all depends on the hotspotting/teathering restrictions. That's mostly what I want the phone for.
128GB SG Verizon, manufactured 20 Nov 2017, just one cycle(normal test cycle at the factory), says 100%(0% wear), completely flat on arrival.
I guess the battery is still taking a charge above spec, 1664 VS 1624mAh (normal for new batteries). Nonetheless, I don't know how it holds and delivers the charge after all this time. I would say take this with a pinch of salt since my 5S with >660 cycles hilariously states 93%, so ya that percentage may represent a vague suggestion.
Let's see how it performs in the next few days.
I guess the battery is still taking a charge above spec, 1664 VS 1624mAh (normal for new batteries). Nonetheless, I don't know how it holds and delivers the charge after all this time. I would say take this with a pinch of salt since my 5S with >660 cycles hilariously states 93%, so ya that percentage may represent a vague suggestion.
Let's see how it performs in the next few days.
After mostly just sitting overnight and charging back up from 90-something this morning, coconutBattery now says the capacity is 100%. It seemed to charge kinda fast yesterday, couple of hours?, but then I have no idea what is normal. I guess it is a smaller battery than I'm used to.
Should the bars and the "Verizon" go away in the corner when you turn off the Cellular stuff? It does on my iPad (iOS 10.3.3).
FWIW here's my battery report after disabling/deleting lots of Apple stuff, adding some photo, nature, navigation apps and recording several slow motion videos at 240fps. I was lucky the SE was relatively young 7/23/18 and running iOS 11.4.1, which is the version I'd prefer, since I'll be using it primarily as a camera with no SIM. I couldn't be happier with this new SE.
GetRealBro
GetRealBro
BTW mine is a TSMC made Apple A9, N69AP model, supposedly better for battery life in higher load situations than the Samsung made A9(another lottery - chipgate - same for the 6S).
Samsung manufactures the N69uAP model.
Got my 128GB Space Gray (T-Mobile) SE in today. Battery was completely dead. It also has a Samsung processor
Got my 128GB Space Gray (T-Mobile) SE in today. Battery was completely dead. It also has a Samsung processor
View attachment 823139
99.6% capacity after 2 years is great though.
Got my 128GB Space Gray (T-Mobile) SE in today. Battery was completely dead. It also has a Samsung processor
Well that's really bad luck, unfortunately it's a gamble. I see that there is still some stock left(128GB/SG/T-Mobile), you can always buy another and return that one, maybe if you are lucky enough you receive one from a more recent batch/TSMC made. Not ideal but if you want to avoid the return nuisance, you can ask for a battery replacement later on, hopefully it starts misbehaving in the first year(not that improbable since that battery already has 2 years - surely more than 1 year on a very low charge).
On my SE the screen is abysmally inferior to the one I have on my 5S, the back-light is slightly uneven and way too warm/yellow. But since the battery is not in a bad shape and has a TSMC made A9, I will keep it.
https://applelives.com/how-to-check...ne-6s-is-manufactured-by-samsung-or-tsmc.html
The difference between the two chips is marginal at best. Nothing really to worry about.
Well, some people would have been willing. For me, for a backup phone, I wouldn't have paid near list price. $150 is a good price (though it is locked to ATT Prepaid until late July at least for me). I put my SIM back into the phone today and playing with it. Have to get used to the smaller on screen keyboard compared to my X again. I don't know how strict the 6 month requirement for ATT is. So I'm going to put the SIM in it at least monthly.
Once I get it unlocked, I'll make this the main phone on my backup line, which is currently on the Verizon network. Better size for a second phone than the 7+ I'm currently using. I could then hand down the 7+ to someone else needing a phone.
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When I was on Verizon Prepaid, it was about 10% in taxes/fees. I left so I could get an X shortly after launch before it became available SIM Free.
Silver: MP7Y2LL/A 128GB bought from February 14th batch.
Date of Manufacture date: 2018 Week 34 (that is 6 months new)
Battery level - 20% 1 cycle, 100.
No SIM in the iPhone. So, these are from Apple's warehouse as mentioned earlier.
The following batch - unlocked but with SIM in place and manufactured almost a year earlier, retailers' unsold contingency stock. Batteries in both are still in cycle 1 - different ages.
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You can use this free app: https://itunes.apple.com/app/id591660734
Check in the main page for the model:
N69AP - TSMC
N69uAP - Samsung
I chatted with Apple Support about my ordered but not yet delivered SG 128GB SE. They said the battery would be replaced free under warranty. They pointed me to https://support.apple.com/iphone/repair/battery-power.
There doesn’t seem to be any requirement for reason for replacement. Since mine appears to be manufactured November 2017 I’ll see what it looks like when I get it but will most likely do the free replacement of the battery.
Just curious. Has anyone gotten an iPhone SE from these limited special sales that came with iOS 9 installed, or did they all come with iOS 10/11?
Just to clarify, the battery replacement will only be free under warranty if the battery capacity has reduced to 80% or under (or under 80%) of the original capacity. If it’s above 80%, you can still replace it but it’s not free. I believe the current offer is still $29.
I don’t believe anyone has reported a manufacture date prior to March 2017, so there would be no OS 9. Since these all appear to be 32GB and 64GB, none would have been manufactured before 2017.
$49.
Yes. But you can check your battery health yourself under settings before sending it to Apple. Apple has their own tools, and may make a different determination, but at least you know where you stand. There are also apps as you’ve seen referenced in previous posts.